Building a welding table is pretty straightforward but I thought I would share my version. It's built from 1.5" square 14 gauge steel tube. The tubing comes in 20 foot sticks from my local metal distributor. It take about 2 sticks or 40 feet of tubing to build this table. The exact specifications for the tubing length can be found in the PDF drawing below. The tabletop consists of a 30" x 48" sheet of 14 gauge hot rolled steel.
I used a Lincoln Electric Weld-Pak 3200HD with Innershield wire. The Innershield wire provides its own flux, so a shielding gas isn't needed. It's convenient when you don't have time to run to Airgas for shielding gas. It also allows the welder to handle thicker materials.
I used magnetic welding squares to square up the top surface of the table then tacked the pieces together and to keep the pieces from shifting during the final weld. The top and bottom surfaces of the frame were ground smooth and flat with an angle grinder.
More magnetic squares were used to position each of the legs. I tacked the legs in place with 4 tack welds on the corners. I welded both legs on one side of the table first.
With the legs tacked on, I squared up the brace and tacked it into place. After everything is tacked and all looks good, the welds were completed. The process is then repeated on the other side. A center support brace connects the leg braces together.
The tabletop supports were tacked in place and checked to see if they were level on the top surface. Depending on your preference for feet or casters, you can weld on either to the base of the legs. In my case I went with casters, which were to be bolted on to end plates. The top plate tabletop was attached with about a dozen small welds distributed around the perimeter of the frame.
My friend, Satyam, coated the table with spray primer. Remember to use a respirator when painting. N95 face masks protect against particulates, but don't do anything against solvents.
A near finished table with casters bolted on. The top surface should stay bare as to be conductive for welding. The table was painted red to match the Lincoln Electric welder.
